The A's idea behind this was to be as competitive as they could be with a limited budget, not build a dynasty. This continually gets overlooked when these debates arise.

And for the most part during Beane's tenure, they've failed at even that.

__________________"I have the ultimate respect for White Sox fans. They were as miserable as the Cubs and Red Sox fans ever were but always had the good decency to keep it to themselves. And when they finally won the World Series, they celebrated without annoying every other fan in the country." Jim Caple, ESPN (January 12, 2011)

"We have now sunk to a depth at which the restatement of the (bleeding) obvious is the first duty of intelligent men." — George Orwell